Station-indicator.



PATENTED NOV. l, 1904. H. G. CANPIELD. 4STATIN INDICATOR. APPLIUATIoIFILED SEPT. 29. 1902.

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/NvE/VTOH N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES l Patented November 1, 1904.

HORACE G. OANFIELD, OF AKRON, OHIO.

STATION-INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 773,922, dated November1, 1904.

Application led September 29, 1902. Serial No. 125.237. (No model.) y

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORACE G. OANFIELD, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in StationIndicators; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will lenable others skilledin the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in station-indicators forrailway-cars, and especially to indicators for use on street or tramcars having designated stopping places or stations.

The object of my invention is to provide a stationeindicator which maybe readily operated by the motorman or conductor from any suitable'pointon the car to indicate or display to the passengers the successivestopping places or stations on the line.

Said invention consists in the combination, with an outer stationarycase adapted to be attached to the wall of a car and having mountedtherein the mechanism for actuating the indicatormechanism proper, of aninner removable case or framework, in which is operatively mountedwinding drums or rollers carrying a street-name-indicating band,arranged within said stationary case, so that the said inner case withits contained mechanism may be readily removed from the outer case forthe purpose of substituting a new nameslip or altering an old onewithout necessitating removal or disturbance of the actuating mechanismindependently mounted in the outer case.

Said invention also consists in means for detachably connecting thestreet-name band or tape-winding mechanism, which is mounted in theinner case, with mechanism for actuating the same, which isindependently mounted in the outer case, and also in means wheref 4bythe actuating mechanism can be readily adjusted to cause thestreet-name-carrying 1pand to travel inreither direction, so that oneand the same strip can be used-to indicate stations on the going andreturning trips, respec-4 tion with part of the case broken away toshowl the interior mechanism. Fig. II is a longitudinal section on linesII II, Fig. I, in which the reversed position of the actuating mechanismis shown in dotted lines. Fig. III is a detail sectional view showingthe device which locks the actuating-shaft against rotation.

a represents a suitable receptacle or box, preferably rectangular incross-section, which forms the outer case of the indicator. This case ais adapted to be permanently attached to the wall of a car in anysuitable manner and in a prominent position, so that the names ofstreets or stations displayed will be in full view of the passengers onthe car. The case a. is provided with a doorct, hinged thereto at a3 andadapted to be retained in its closed position by any suitable means. Aslot of window a is formed, preferably, centrally ofthe door a', andsaid window or slot is enlarged and the vertical slot displaysintersecting carlines or transfer-stations.

Two parallel ribs or guide-strips a2 are formed on the inside of boththe bottom and top of case o. These strips extend from the face of casea rearwardly and form guideways for the removable inner case orframework b, hereinafter described. Interiorly of said case a andpreferably near one side thereof a vertical shaft L is journaled andarranged so as to freely rotate in its bearings and also be capable ofsliding vertically or moving up and down therein. The shaft h, which isrectangular in cross-section, is provided at its upper end with a longjournal if, vextending axially ofV said shaft. The journal h5 rotates inand extends through abearing formed in the top of case c. On the lowerend of the shaft /L is arranged a collar g, which has, a square boreloose enough to allow the end of -`the shaft to slide freelytherethrough. rIhe IOO collar ,f/ is mounted in a bear-inge, formed in'the bottom of the case fr. The collar f/ is provided with annularflanges g' and (/2, which hold it in its bearing ai. The flange y ispreferably removably secured to the collar y. A flexible crank-arm g3,which is preferably formed integral with the lower flange g2, extendsout horizontally from the said flange r/2 and forms a means for rotatingthe shaft 71 for the purpose hereinafter disclosed. On the bottom of theease L are arranged two sets of lugs a and 0,7, respectively, aboutninety degrees apart. In order to lock the shaft 7L against rotation,the flexible arm ff is sprung down and allowed to come up between thelugs forming the sets a or a7.

A collar 7b is rigidly secured to said shaft 7L at any suitable distancefrom the upper end thereof, preferably the length of the journaltherefrom. A lever 7,' is pivoted at any suitable point in the case t injuxtaposition to said collar h6. One end of said lever 7c is forked andstraddles the shaft 7L immediately below and against said collar whilethe other end of said lever extends outwardly through a longitudinalslot 7a, formed in the wall of the case a. A flat spring 71,7 is rigidlysecured at one end, in any suitable manner, to case a.. The other end ofthe spring 707 is forked or slotted and straddles the shaft 71, aboveand presses constantly against said collar 71,6. It will thus he seenthat when the outer end of the leverz'` is depressed the shaft 7L israised against the pressure of the tension of the spring 7L7 and thatwhen the lever 7; is released the spring 71,7 will force the shaft 7Ldown again. Pivoted to the adjacent sides of the shaft 7l, and near theupper and lower end, respectively, are two hook-shaped devices 71/ and7a3 each arranged to stand. when in its operative position, with itshook portion up. Flat springs 72,2 and 7# are attached at one end toshaft 7b and bear against said devices 72, and 7d. As the devices 71,and 7x, are pivoted to adjacent sides of the bar 7L, they areapproximatel y ninety degrees apart. Therefore by giving' the collar g aquarter of a turn in either direction one or the other of the saiddevices will be brought into its operative position. Stops 72, and 7amare arranged on the shaft 7L and together with the springs 7b2 and 7L"hold the devices 7i and 7a3 in position so that they can readily engagewith the respective ratchet-wheels (l and e.

7; represents the inner removable case or framework, and it is open atits front end. This ease 7; is adapted to lit inside of the case a andbe slidably arranged in the before-mentioned guideways ci in the top andbottom of the said case a. In the sides of the case 7) are formedbearings for the journals of parallellydisposed drums or rollers 7/ and7i?. One end of a strip or band c of paper, cloth, or other suitablematerial, upon which 1s printed the names of streets or stations, 1sattached in any suitable manner to the periphery of one of the saidrollers, and the other end is attached to the other roller. It will beunderstood that the name-carrying strip or band will be first wound uponone of the said rollers 7) or `7)2 and then wound therefrom upon theother of the said rollers. Ratchet-wheels (Z and e are mounted on thejournals of the rollers b' and b2 on the outside of the case 7) andadjacent to the shaft 7. These ratchetwheels are arranged so that theratchet-wheel l on the roller will be engaged bythe hookshaped device orpawl 7L when the said pawl is in its operative position, and theratchetwheel e on the roller b2 will be engaged by the hook-shapeddevice or pawl 7b3 when in its operative position. It will observed,however` that but one of the said ratchet-wheels can be engaged by oneof the hook-shaped devices or pawls at the same time, as the said pawlsare pivoted to swing in planes at a right angle to each other.

The operation of this device is as follows: lVhen the conductor or partyin charge of the device desires to display a new street or station, hedepresses the outer end of the lever 7', and theinner end moves up,lifting the shaft 7b by means of a collar 72,. As the shaft moves up thehook 71,' moves up the face of the ratchet-wheel, and when the shaft 71,has moved the, proper distance the said hook or pawl 7/,' will engagewith a tooth on the ratchet-wheel (Z. When the lever is released, thespring 7L7 will force down the shaft 71 which in turn pulls down thepawl 71,', thereby causing a rotation of the ratchet-wheel f7, whichwill in turn cause a sufhcient movement of the roller to bring into viewat the window c the name of the next station. Then the car has completedthe trip in one direction, the lever 71 is pulled down, lifting theshaft 71, and then the arm g3 is snapped out of its engagement with thelugs a and turned around one-quarter of a revolution and is again sprungin between the lugs al, so as to lock it in its new position, and thelever is then released, and the shaft movingdown actuates the mechanismas before and brings into view the name of the first stop on the re.-turn trip. The turning of the arms .(/3 causes the shaft 7L to rotateone-quarter of a revolution, thereby disengaging the pawl 7L from theratchet-wheel l and bringing the pawl 7L3 into engagement with theratchet-wheel e, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. H. Again, when theouter end of the lever is depressed the shaft 7L will be raised and thepawl 7b3 will engage with a tooth on the ratchet-wheel e. lVhen thelever is released, the shaft 7L will move down under the pressure of thespring' 71,7, carrying down with it the pawl 71,", thereby causing' arotation of the ratchet-wheel e, which will in turn cause a suflicicntmovement of the roller 62 to bring into view the name of a station.

TOO

IIS

IVhat I claim isl. In a street or station indicator for railways, thecombination of a case, two parallel drums mounted in said case, a shaftarranged so as to be capable of both a rotary and longitudinal movement,means for actuating said shaft longitudinally, means for rotating saidshaft and means for causing said shaft to engage with one or the otherof the said drums according to the direction in which the said shaft isrotated so as to cause a rotation of the drum with which it engages.

2. In a street or station indicator for railways, the combination of acase, two parallel drums mounted in said case, a station-namecarryingband operatively arranged on said drums, ratchet-wheels mounted on therespective drums, a vertical shaft arranged in said case so as to becapable of both a rotary and vertical movement, means for actuating saidshaft vertically, means for rotating said shaft and means for causing'the said shaft to engage with one or the other of the said ratchetwheelsaccording to the direction in which the said shaft is rotated and meansfor returning said shaft to its normal position after it has been movedvertically.

3. In a street or station indicator the combination with a ease, twoparallel drums mounted in said case and arranged one above the other, astation-name-carrying band operatively arranged on said drums,ratchetwheels mounted on the respective drums, a vertical shaft arrangedin said ease so as to be capable of both a rotary and vertical movement,a pawl pivotally secured to said shaft near its upper end, and arrangedto engage when in its operative position with the ratchet-wheel on theupper drum, a pawl pivotally secured below the first-mentioned pawl soas to swing in a different plane from the first-mentioned pawl andarranged when in its operative position to engage with the ratchet-wheelon the lower drum, means for rotating the shaft so as to bring the saidpawls in their operative positions, means for locking said shaft againstrotation, means for raising said shaft, and means for returning saidshaft to its normal position after being raised.

4. In a street or station indicator the combination with a case, twoparallel drums mounted in said case andv arranged one above the other, astation-name-carrying band operatively arranged on said drums,ratchet-wheel mounted on the respective drums, a vertical shaft arrangedin said case so as to be capable of both a rotary and vertical movement,a pawl pivotally secured to saidshaft near its upper end and arranged toengage, when in its operative position, with the ratchet-wheel on theupper drum, a pawl pivotally secured below the first-mentioned pawl soas to swing in a different plane from the first-mentioned pawl andarranged when in its operative position to engage with the ratchet-wheelon the lower drum, a crank-arm secured to said shaft so. as to rotatesaid shaft, a leverarm pivotally mounted in said case and arranged toengage with said shaft, and a spring mounted in said case and arrangedto exert a constant downward pressure on said shaft, substantially asdescribed and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a street or station indicator for railways, the combination of acase, two parallel drums mounted in said case, a ratchet-wheel mountedon each of said drums, a shaft arranged so as to be capable of both arotary and longitudinal movement, means for actuating said shaftlongitudinally, means for ro` tating said shaft and means for causingthe said shaft to engage with one or the other of the saidratchet-wheels according to the direction in which the said shaft isrotated.

6. In a street or station indicator for railways, the combination of acase, two parallel drums mounted in said case, a ratchet-wheel mountedon each of said drums, a shaft arranged in said case so as to be capableof both a rotary and longitudinal movement, means for actuating saidshaft longitudinally, means for rotating said shaft, means for causingthe said shaft to engage with one or the other of the saidratchet-wheels according to the direction in which the said shaft isrotated, means for actuating the said shaft to its normal po- 9 sitionafter it has been moved longitudinally, and a station-name-carrying bandarranged on said drums.

In testimony whereof I sign the foregoing specification in the presenceof two witnesses.`

HORACE G. CANFIELD. Witnesses:

' VICTOR C. LYNCH,

G. M. HAYES.

IOO

